I'm a firm believer in achieving that which I'm told 'is not possible'. My latest achievement (and even I was having doubts about this one) was the finding of a cheap, spacious, artists studio in East London. Not only in East London, but a three minute walk from my flat in Bethnal Green. Sweet!
Unfortunately, long gone are the golden days of numerous vacant warehouses and factory units that attracted so many artists to the East End in the first place. Now any large building in the area, that groups of artists have been fortunate enough to find, and use as studio space (usually at an extortionate rent, and often offering barely enough room to stroke a cat, never mind swing it), is soon bought up by the developers, knocked down, and luxury apartments built in its place. It's the age old story – artists move into a run-down/dodgy area because of the cheap rent and space to work, then galleries, hip bars and cafes start popping up around them. Soon the area becomes more interesting and socially vibrant. Then 'the beautiful people' move in, needing the right sort of homes. Enter the property developers.
Nowadays I usually manage to hang onto a studio space for about 12 months before receiving the notice to quite. With the building itself will usually have quite existing two to three months later. But this time I'm hoping that I've managed to break that cycle. My new work space is built under a railway arch, with actual trains running overhead. So little chance of the developers getting their grubby mitts on this space (although if they can, I'm sure that they will).
As you can see from this photo, on the desk front, I'm with Albert Einstein - “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?
